Thomas à Kempis

Thomas à Kempis (1380?-1471), German monk and writer, who is generally accepted as the author of The Imitation of Christ, a devotional treatise that became immensely influential. His original name was Thomas Hemerken. He was born in Kempen, Prussia, and educated at Deventer in the Netherlands. In 1407 he entered the Augustinian monastery of Mount Saint Agnes, near Zwolle, in the Netherlands, and was ordained a priest in 1413. The greater part of his long life was passed in the seclusion of the cloister, where he copied manuscripts, counseled, and wrote. Thomas's writings are representative of the devotio moderna, a movement of spiritual reform centered in the Netherlands that stressed the moral example of Christ. Thomas also wrote sermons, religious biographies, and devotional books for the young.